The Boy Next Door
by roboticsnerd
Summary: A new family moves in next door to the Dawsons. Somehow, Ally keeps running into the new boy... Probably a little OOC.
1. Chapter 1

"Mom! Where's my new sweater? I left it on the couch!" Ally thumped down the stairs into the kitchen, where her mother was putting away dishes from lunch.

"Um…" her mother didn't even look up. "I moved a pile of stuff from the couch to the laundry room earlier. Check in there." Ally thanked her and turned to leave the room, but was stopped by her mother's voice from behind her. "Oh, Ally! I forgot to mention that the family next door is moving in today! They have a son about your age. If you get the chance, you should go over and say hello."

Ally made a face at the wall in front of her where her mother couldn't see. She was less than enthusiastic about the new family. The couple that used to live there had been the nicest people, and had a young child that was adorable. As far as Ally was concerned, there was no one that could match up to them, and she was still upset that they had to go. She offered her mother a half-hearted acknowledgment, and left to find her sweater.

"I'm serious! I want to go somewhere today. There's been nothing but noise at my house all day! There's moving vans pulling in and out, and they're just leaving boxes all over the place! I don't want to stay here. Can we go to the mall? Please?" Ally was lying on her bed, staring out her window at the house next door. The place reminded her of an anthill, what with the constant stream of people in and out. She rolled her eyes, and focused back on her phone conversation with her friend Trish. "Yeah. Can you come pick me up in fifteen minutes? Ok, see you soon". Ally rolled off her bed as she hung up the phone with one last glance out the window. Wait… Was that… Ally squinted and hopped back up on her bed right next to the window. A new truck had just pulled up and they were unloading a piano and drum set from the back. Looking harder, she could see the glint of metal on the inside of the truck, signifying the presence of other musical instruments.

Her interest was piqued, but she shook it off. She had no interest in getting involved with any of the members of the new family, whatever musical interest there might be.

The sun was setting when Trish dropped Ally off at her house. Ally called a goodbye to her friend as the car pulled away, and Ally hoisted her shopping bags up onto her shoulder.

"Hey, Ani, come back!" Suddenly, something catapulted itself into Ally's side, knocking her over. The shopping bags fell on the ground next to her, items spilling out onto the grass. As Ally tried to push herself back up, she realized there was a person lying on top of her.

"Ani- Oh, I'm so sorry. She's just so excited…" Hands lifted the body off of Ally and placed what Ally now realized was a little girl on her feet. Then, someone offered a hand to Ally to help her up. She looked up, and found herself staring into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. She grasped the hand, and allowed the boy to pull her up. Once she was on her feet again, she dusted herself off, and straightened her shirt, before looking up at the boy, who was rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, looking embarrassed.

She looked closer at him. He was tall, probably over six feet, with blond hair. Overall, he looked like the athletic, surfer type. The little girl looked like a younger, female version of him, with her blond hair held up in a ponytail, and her bright blue eyes that were bright and excited.

"It's ok, no harm done!" She offered him a small smile.

He grinned back at her. "Hi. I'm Austin Moon, and this is Anika. We just moved into the house right over there".

Ally's smile faltered a little, but if there was one thing she was not, it was impolite. She wouldn't be rude to this boy who had just helped her out.

"I'm Ally Dawson. We live in this house here. Guess we're neighbors." She grinned down at the little girl who was now hiding behind Austin's leg. "Hi Anika!"

Austin reached down and lifted the girl into his arms. Anika whispered something in his ear so that Ally couldn't hear, and Austin grinned at her as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Can you say hello to Ally? She's our new neighbor!" Austin told Anika.

The little girl shyly peeked out from Austin's shoulder and whispered "Hi Ally", before hiding her face again.

"Hi Anika", Ally replied with a smile. She turned back to Austin. "She's adorable."

"She is, isn't she? She's five years old". Austin set Anika down and whispered something in her ear. Anika looked up at Ally shyly and then turned and ran back toward her house.

"Sorry again about earlier. She's been racing around the house all afternoon, and Dad told me her take her outside so she wouldn't hurt herself on all the stuff that's lying around the house right now."

"It's fine. I'm not hurt". Ally smiled at Austin, and then leaned down to pick up the fallen shopping bags. Austin crouched down and began to help her put some of the things back into bags. Suddenly, he froze. Ally looked up to see that his eyes had grown wide.

"What?" She glanced down to see that he was holding a stack of paper, which she realized was some of her new piano sheet music.

"I love these songs!" He flipped through the music, and his eyebrows rose. "Wow, this is some pretty hard stuff. You play?"

Ally nodded, and tucked some hair behind her ear, a little embarrassed. "Yeah. I've played piano for a really long time. I play some other stuff too, but piano's my favorite. What about you?"

"I play all kinds of instruments. I play piano, guitar, violin, plus lots of other stuff. I can even play a trumpet through another trumpet!"

Ally laughed. "I would love to see that!"

She could feel herself warming up to this boy already. At this moment, she couldn't remember exactly why she had been determined not to like this family. It couldn't have been a good reason.

Austin shoved the papers back into the bag he was holding, and then lifted the rest of the bags over his shoulder, ignoring Ally's protests that she could take some.

"It's the least I can do, after I was the reason that you dropped them. Come on!" He started down the long driveway towards her house, not giving Ally the chance to point out that it was his sister, not him who had run into her.

They reached her front door, Ally having to take two steps for every one of Austin's, even when he was carrying multiple heavy bags.

"Thanks." She turned to him.

"No problem. Glad to help!" He handed her the bags. "By the way, do you go the Marino High? Apparently that's where I'm starting on Monday."

"Yeah. I'm a junior there this year," she replied.

"Awesome! Me too. See you around then!" Austin grinned at her, and then shoved his hands in his pockets and walked off back down the driveway.

Ally turned towards her door and fiddled with the handle, unsuccessfully trying to stop the smile that was seemingly permanently plastered on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and especially my mistake with Austin's eye color in the last chapter (oops!). I went back and fixed that. Also realized I forgot the disclaimer, so... I don't own anything in here that you recognize. Enjoy!**

"Ally! Guess what!" Ally was standing at her locker before class on Monday morning, when Trish skidded to a halt next her. Her eyes were glowing in the way they only did when she juicy news to tell.

"Oh! Let me guess… Logan asked Amanda to go the dance with him!" Ally responded with false enthusiasm.

Trish frowned for a second. "Umm… no. That would be cool, but that's not it. There's a new boy in school today! Word is, he's super cute!"

Ally raised her eyebrows at her. "Interesting…"

"Do you not care about this? It's like the coolest thing that's happened since the hot glue gun incident. Nothing ever happens around here. How are you not excited?"

"Trish, I know the guy. The new family has a boy our age. It's just Austin. I already met him. Not that exciting." She turned to walk to her first period class.

"You know him?" Trish sped up to keep up with Ally's fast pace. "So… Is he as hot as everyone says?"

Ally rolled her eyes. "I guess so... He's pretty cute"

"Who's cute?" The voice from behind the girls made them both jump.

Ally mentally face-palmed as she realized who the voice belonged to. "Austin…" In the side of her vision, she saw Trish's eyes widen as the name registered with her.

"So… who were you two talking about?"

Ally laughed nervously as she and Trish turned to address the tall blond boy. "No one! It's just this guy in… um… history class! Yeah! History!"

"Uh huh…" Austin raised an eyebrow at her response. He turned his attention toward the other girl in front of him, who was still staring. "Hi. I'm Austin."

"Um… Trish! Nice to meet you!" Trish managed to pull herself together just as the warning bell rang. "Crap… My first class is way upstairs! I'll see you guys later!" She hurried off, only stopping to mouth to Ally _He's cute!_ Ally once again rolled her eyes at her friend before turning back to Austin.

"So… I had a favor to ask." Austin rubbed the back of his neck, looking at her uncertainly. He produced a piece of paper from his backpack. "I just got my schedule, and I have no idea where any of these room are… I don't know anyone here, so could you maybe…?" He trailed off.

"Oh! Yeah, sure, I can show you around. Let me see." Austin handed her his schedule. She glanced over it, and smiled up at him. "You have the same English as me first. Come on. It's just upstairs."

They made it to class just on time, both taking seats near the back. Mr. Brown just gave them a look as they came in, but otherwise ignored their near tardy. Ally was just getting out her stuff when he started talking.

"Good morning everyone. I hope everyone got enough rest over the weekend! We have a lot to get done today." Mr. Brown was never one for long introductions, or casual conversation. He was all business.

"I'm passing out the explanation of your new project. I want you all to choose one theme found in the novel _Huckleberry Finn_ and talk about how Twain demonstrates that theme in the book. This is a partner project, so pair up. I expect a one page report on your theme by Friday. You will have all week in class to work."

"Hey, Ally." Something poked Ally in the back. She jumped, surprised, and turned to see Austin smiling at her.

"What?"

"Do you want to be my partner?" He asked her, eyes twinkling with amusement at her startled reaction.

"Um… Sure!" She was about to turn her chair around so she could fully face him when someone sat on Austin's desk right in front of her. Inwardly, she groaned. She didn't even have to look to see who the intruder was.

Cassidy.

Ally wasn't blind. She knew Austin was cute. He had the whole surfer vibe going on, and he wasn't exactly out of shape either. She had also noticed Cassidy and her posse whispering in the corner, and their frequent glances at the new boy. She shouldn't have been surprised that Cassidy was trying this now.

Cassidy was the most popular girl at Marino High. Ally didn't like her, having seen her exploit her status as a bully in the past.

"So… It's Austin right?" Cassidy gave Austin a dazzling smile, and flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder. When Austin nodded, her smile grew wider, and she asked "Would you like to be my partner?"

Ally could see Austin's look of slight disgust at her obvious flirting in his eyes, although he kept a polite smile on his face. Apparently though, Cassidy was oblivious, as she just kept watching him happily, waiting for his response.

"Sorry Cassidy. I already asked Ally to be my partner. Maybe next time". Cassidy's face betrayed her surprise for just a moment, along with her horror at being rejected. Then she whirled on Ally.

Ally herself wasn't popular, but she wasn't unpopular either. She had her own group of friends that she was very happy with. She was generally classified as more of a wallflower than anything else, preferring to stay silent than speak up the majority of the time.

She never interacted with Cassidy in even the smallest way. She couldn't remember ever giving the girl any reason to hate her. Because of this, Cassidy's next words came as a surprise.

"Her?! But… but… she's nobody! Nothing! How could you choose her over me?! Austin, nobody likes her. If you choose her as a partner, you're going to be unpopular! Seriously?"

Ally's jaw dropped. That was a little harsh.

Even Austin looked a little taken aback for a second. However, his face soon settled into a stony expression. "Don't talk about my friend like that. I choose who I want to hang out with. And after that outburst, that most definitely will not be you." He took ahold of her arm and gently pushed her off his desk and smiled coolly. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to say no."

Austin then looked at Ally and motioned for her to put her stuff on his desk so that they could work. She did so, suppressing the urge to laugh at Cassidy's stunned expression.

Cassidy quickly realized she was staring, and huffed, turning on her heel to return to her corner of the classroom. Ally looked at Austin with a little bit of awe.

"That was hilarious! I have never seen her look so mad! You are amazing!" Ally couldn't hold back her laughter any more, and was now struggling to catch her breath.

Austin grinned at her. "Hey, she deserved it! I know what her type do, and I don't want to get involved in all that again."

Finally getting her breathing back to normal, Austin's words registered with Ally. "Wait… again? What happened last time?"

Austin just smiled at her. "I'll tell you that story some other day. So… what theme do you want to write about? I was thinking racism."

Ally glared at him for raising her curiosity, but didn't push the question. "Yeah, sure. Racism is good." Silently, however, she resolved to find out more about Austin. Any boy who could talk to Cassidy like that was worth getting to know.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm sorry! I meant to update way sooner than this. My summer has been super crazy so far though. It's like midnight here, and I need to be asleep, but I finally had an idea with this, and I had to write it. I will try to get the next update out soon. Hopefully some time next week. Anyway…**

**Constructive criticism is welcome. I want to improve, so any suggestions would be awesome. I don't own anything you recognize. Hope you enjoy! **

"Crap!" Ally stared at the screen in front of her wide-eyed. The email displayed on her laptop proclaimed that the city bus schedules were changing. In Marino High, the district no longer paid for the school buses. Instead the supplied the students with city bus passes. Normally, Ally preferred this. City buses were less cramped, and smelled better. Plus, the ride was quieter.

Right now, though, was a perfect example of a time she was less than pleased with this system. Her bus she normally took to and from school every day was being canceled. The only other option in her neighborhood was a bus that would come to her stop a full hour earlier.

_This sucks. No way in hell am I getting up at 5:00 to catch a 6 o'clock bus. Maybe I can just walk the two miles to school instead._ Ally was still in a bad mood when she descended the stairs at dinnertime fifteen minutes later.

"So!" The whole family was seated around their dining room table. Ally's family seemed to always enjoy a full-family dinner. Her mother claimed it was the only time she got to talk to everyone at once. Ally usually spent the time trying to match her mother's overly cheerful attitude, and usually failing, as she was doing now. "Anybody have any news from their day?"

"Well, I think Sonic Boom might get that new grant!" Lester Dawson looked up from his plate of pasta and beamed around at his family. Lester owned a music store in the local mall, called Sonic Boom. It was fairly popular, and Ally had always enjoyed being there. In fact, when she began to profess a passion in music, her father had given her the upstairs storage room to transform into a practice room. Ally had spent hours upon hours in that room, and in exchange she worked at the register once or twice a week, and had gotten pulled into teaching a few music lessons, which she enjoyed immensely.

"That's awesome honey!" Her mother looked back at her husband with an equally bright smile. "When will you know for sure?"

"I should hear back by next week for sure. But our only competition is that new music store across town. We've got it in the bag."

"I'm glad. We could use a little bit of extra cash. The holidays are coming up, and Jackson just dropped out of lessons. The grant would be nice. How about you Ally? Any news?"

Ally hesitated. She didn't want to be a downer, but she needed to mention the bus situation, seeing as it would be enacted the next morning.

"Well, I got an email from the city this afternoon. They say they're cancelling my bus. I'm not exactly sure how to get to school tomorrow."

"Oh, honey, did I forget to tell you?" Ally's mother looked at her expectantly. When Ally returned her gaze with a confused look, she continued. "Mimi Moon from next door- you know, Austin's mother- heard about the bus changes, and said that Austin would be happy to give you a ride to and from school for a while."

"Oh." Ally felt much better. This meant that she wouldn't have to wake at an ungodly hour in the morning the next day. "Yeah, that would be great!"

"Good! I'll call Mimi and have her tell Austin." Her mother nodded at her. "He'll be here around 7:15 tomorrow morning. And- No, Alec, don't play with your food! The spoon goes into your mouth, not the ground!" Ally's younger brother had begun to throw his spoon around, obviously decided he had finished his dinner. Ally quietly excused herself from the table, still having homework that needed to be done that night.

The next morning, Ally was already outside when Austin pulled up. He drove a really nice car. Obviously used, but still nice for a highschooler.

"Hey", Ally greeted as she slid into the front seat.

"Hey. How's it going?" Austin glanced over at her and grinned as he pulled out of her driveway.

"Good. I have a stupid test in Pre-Calc today though that I'm not ready for. Ally had been up late last night trying to study until she finally decided that sleep would do her more good than her futile attempts to cram her information into her brain.

"I'm sure you'll be fine. You're smart. I mean, you are in Pre-Calc, right? Just to be even in that class, you have to be really good."

"Yeah, well, I was studying last night, and couldn't even remember even the basic stuff. We'll see though. There's nothing else I can do at this point."

"That's a good philosophy." Austin pressed his lips together thoughtfully as he concentrated on the road in front of him. "Useful for a lot of things, actually."

"Right. I see everyone at school so stressed out and complaining about things they can't control. I get kind of sick of it actually. Everyone's so negative some times. I don't see the point."

"Very true."

As Austin said this, he pulled into the parking lot. Austin parked the car. He grabbed his bag and was out and around the car to Ally's side before she could move. He opened the door for me and motioned for her to step out. "Milady…"

Ally rolled her eyes at him, laughing, and she stepped out and slung her bag over her shoulder. "You're such a dork."

"Guilty as charged." Austin grinned good-naturedly as he caught up to her and slung his arm around her shoulders.

Ally almost stopped walking at the contact. She wasn't used to this kind of forwardness. Austin acted as if they had been friends forever, though it had been barely a week. The strangest part was that it wasn't awkward at all. It felt completely normal, and just seemed to come as part of his open nature. She definitely wasn't complaining either. She loved the lighthearted nature that his cheery attitude seemed to bring to their friendship. It felt so… drama free. A feeling that she desperately needed. After everything that had happened last year…

Ally was torn from her thoughts by the sound of Austin's voice.

"So. That project. I did some research last night, and I think we should include the scene with Jim and – aww… who's that?"

The two had stopped at Ally's locker and she was pulling her Chemistry book out when Austin abruptly changed the subject. She glanced up at him and followed his gaze to the pictures she had taped the inside door of her locker. The one he was staring at was of her and her younger brother Alec. Ally was sitting on the floor of her living room across from Alec, playing a board game. Or at least they were trying to. Ally was trying to teach the boy Candy Land, but Alec had been more interested in trying to eat the cards than actually play the game.

Ally smiled at the memory before answering Austin. "That's my younger brother, Alec. He's three years old."

"That's awesome!"

Ally looked at Austin's face curiously. "You really like kids, don't you?"

He glanced at her sheepishly. "Yeah. There's just something so irresistible about them, you know? They're just so happy all the time, and it's kinda infectious."

Ally smiled at him. "That's really sweet." She shut her locker door and turned to him. "Not many guys would admit to that. It's cool that you can."

Austin grinned at her. "I'm just that cool. Now come on, I'll race you to class." With that, he took off down the hall as the warning bell rang above them.

Ally laughed and sprinted off after him, dodging the other students clogging the hallways. When they arrived at their first class (Austin beating her there), he held the door open for her to enter. Smiling in thanks, she walked past him and sat down in her seat. As he plopped down beside her and began pulling out his materials, Ally realized she had no idea how her opinion had changed so drastically about this boy, but she knew that she was really glad that it had.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long. My life has been so chaotic you wouldn't even believe it. And it's not getting any easier what with school starting again and everything. Advice for anyone in high school: AP classes are hell. Don't take more than one or two at once. **

**I don't feel like this is one my better chapters, but I felt bad leaving you all for so long without an update.**

**Please, please, please review! I'm totally open to constructive criticism.**

**P.S.: someone please tell me how to put the lines/page break things into my writing. I feel like it can be really confusing to read like this. **

Chapter 4

"So" Austin leaned back in his chair. He and Ally were sitting in English working on their project. "I was thinking that we should hang out this weekend".

Ally looked at him with furrowed brows. "Why?"

"Isn't that what friends do?" Austin raised one eyebrow at her. "There's no point in being friends with someone if you only see them at school".

"Um… ok then. What do you want to do?" Ally had learned early on that there was no point arguing with him when he got an idea like this. The boy had an insane stubborn streak.

"Well… can we do something tonight?" At Ally's skeptical look he sat back up and gave her his puppy dog look. "Please? It's Friday, and I really don't want to spend a Friday night at home."

"It's not that, it's just… I've got my volunteer job today. I can't skip it."

"You have a volunteer job? What do you do?" Austin leaned forward, raising his eyebrows.

"It's…" Suddenly Ally got an idea. "You know what? Why don't you come? You would actually really like it." She smiled innocently at him.

"You're not gonna tell me what it is?" He pouted at her. "You're evil, you know that?" Ally just grinned at him.

"Is that a yes?"

"Sure. What time should we leave?"

"So. Where do I go?" Austin raised his eyebrows in a question as Ally slid into his car that afternoon.

"Head down toward the old library. I'll let you know when we get there." Ally responded, still refusing to tell him their destination.

The first few minutes passed in silence. Ally finally turned to Austin and gave him a curious look. "So. First week in Miami is almost over. What's the verdict? Good or bad?"

Austin laughed. "Well, a mix. I'm definitely not used to the weather. Seriously, up in Seattle it used to rain all the time and we were lucky if we reached 80 degrees. Miami's a little hot. But, there's some good things." He glanced at her sideways. "I've met some cool people here".

"Yeah" Ally nodded, agreeing with him. "We do have some cool people at our school. You've talked to Dallas, right? And Elliot. Zack also can—"

Ally was cut off by Austin's laughter. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. As far as she could tell, nothing she had said was funny.

"Ally, I meant you." Austin grinned affectionately at her. "You're pretty cool. All those guys are great, but I love being your friend too."

"Oh." Ally could feel the blush rising up her neck, and fiddled with her hair, desperately fighting the urge to put a lock in her mouth. "Um… Thanks."

"No problem". Austin's eyes turned back to the road. "Just stating the facts".

Ally had no idea what to say to this, but luckily she spotted the turnoff up ahead.

"Up there. Turn left at the next intersection".

They pulled into the parking lot of a small, slightly rundown looking building. Ally got out to see Austin staring wide-eyed at the sign above the door. She giggled at the expression on his face as he turned to her.

"Sunset Daycare? You work at a daycare?"

"Yep. For about six months. Best job ever, isn't it?" Ally had known that he would like it, but was still pleased at his reaction. She turned and headed toward the doorway, calling back to him over her shoulder, "You coming?"

Ally was almost at the door when Austin caught up to her, his face now displaying nothing but excitement. He beat her to the entrance and held the door for her as they walked in.

Ally smiled at the lady in the receptionist desk. "Hello Stella! I brought a friend with me today. Hope that's alright."

Stella smiled kindly at Austin. "Definitely. I'm sure the kids will love it."

Ally led Austin down a narrow hallway, explaining that the kids in the daycare this late were the ones with parents that had to work evening or night shifts. She chattered about the kids. Tommy this, and Karen that. Finally, they reached a door marked _Evening Care_. Ally pushed it open, and was almost immediately swarmed by children. She could briefly see Austin's huge grin before her vision was blocked by another child clambering to be picked up. Ally hoisted the young boy against her side and smiled at him.

"How's it going Peter?"

"Good! I lost my front tooth!" The kid opened his mouth to show her and Ally laughed.

"That's awesome! You're getting big!"

"Yeah! I almost six!" Peter puffed out his chest proudly. As she turned around, Ally noticed Austin was getting inspected. One of the oldest boys was poking at his leg to get his attention.

As she watched, Austin crouched down to be at the child's level. "Hey dude. What's up?"

"Who are you?" the boy asked curiously.

"I'm Austin. I get to hang out with you guys tonight! What's your name?"

"I'm James," the boy responded with a grin.

"Cool name. Hey! You like Spiderman?"

James looked down at his shirt, and then proudly held it out for Austin to see. "Yeah! He's really cool, 'cause he can shoot out of his hands! Like this!" The boy leapt into his Spiderman stance and held out his hand, wrist up, towards Austin. "Pew! Pew! I just got you!"

"Nuh-uh! I'm Superman, and I can break the webs!" Ally laughed as Austin took off running after James.

She realized that this was why he got along so well with children. For all his gentlemanliness and assumed air of maturity, he really was a total child at heart. It was actually a very attractive quality. Which she was observing as a friend. Yeah. Definitely just a friend.

Before she knew it, she was being dragged off to do a puzzle with Peter. They were just finishing the third one when she felt a weight drop over her shoulders, and looked over to see Austin sitting down next to her.

"This is awesome. How come you never told me you work here! I'm hurt that you kept this from me, Ally!" He pouted at her.

She shoved him lightly and he pulled his arm off her shoulder and held his hand over his chest where she had shoved him, his face displaying a wounded expression.

"Shut up!" Ally laughed. "And I guess it just never came up. But you know now! I have a feeling I'm gonna have a hard time keeping you away from now on."

"Yep!" He replied cheerfully. "You're stuck with me now! And—" He was cut off by an impact on his back. Grant, one of the liveliest six-year-olds in the room had taken a flying leap off of a chair onto Austin, seizing him around the waist.

Grant cheered. "Ha! Green Lantern wins! I got Superman! I—"

In one swift movement Austin spun around and grabbed Grant by the stomach, standing and throwing him over his shoulder. He marched over to the couch and deposited the squealing boy on it. As he was about to begin his tickle attack, at least six other children leapt out from their hiding spots around the room and charged at him. Ally laughed as she watched Austin frantically ward off the attacks, and then turned back to Peter.

The time flew by, like it always did when she was here, and before she knew it, the clock showed it to be 10:00 PM. That meant it was time to head back, since she was supposed to be home by 11:00 that night. She excused herself from where she had been playing with one of the younger children, and went to find Austin. He was helping Justin and Alex set up a train set in the corner.

"Austin!" The blonde looked up at her questioningly. "We have to go. I have to be home by eleven."

The blonde's face fell. "But Ally!" he whined.

"Come on. I know you could stay all night, but I gotta go, and you're my ride." She grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet.

They reached the door and announced that they were leaving. Immediately, most of the children surrounded them, giving them hugs. Finally, they removed themselves from the kids and left. Austin draped his arm over her shoulders, and she found herself not even being surprised anymore. It's like this constant contact was almost natural now with him.

"Thanks for bringing me here. That was a lot of fun."

She smiled up at him. "No problem. The kids all loved you".

"I loved them."

They reached the car and Austin held open the passenger door for her, but stopped her with a touch on her arm as she went to get in.

"You know that still doesn't count as hanging out, right? It was fun and all, but we still need to do something else. I kinda got kidnapped by the kids, and didn't talk to you at all."

Ally fought to keep the blush from her cheeks for the second time that day. "Yeah. Same. What do you want to do then?"

"How about you come over tomorrow?" Austin walked around to his side of the car. "I've got a couple things I want to show you."

Ally agreed, and they briefly made plans for the next day during the ride home.


End file.
